Humanity has fought for all eternity, fighting the demons that come from the depths of the soul. Elie Wiesel's novel, Night, and William Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies, show how quickly humans can descend into chaos and savagery. When dehumanization occurs in undisciplined civilizations, humans transform into more primitive beings. The process of dehumanization begins through the loss of morality, knowledge and innocence. The main characters of both novels find themselves in the eternal battle of good versus evil. Morals guide people to behave in a civilized manner; dehumanization occurs when people abandon their morals and ethics. Dehumanization, by definition, “is one of the central processes in the transformation of ordinary, ordinary people into indifferent or even unrestrained perpetrators of evil.” People who go through the process of dehumanization become less educated, more savage, and will do anything to survive. Without morals, humans will slowly lose compassion for others. Once humans lose their morals, they show dehumanization by behaving like wild beasts. Having a strong sense of right and wrong allows humans to be guided towards a civilized society. The leader of a group must present good morals and ethics. Without a just and moral leader, dehumanization will begin to creep in on the next victims. During times of chaos, victims' morals begin to be corrupted by their surroundings. Elie Wiesel himself often witnessed the process of dehumanization during his time in the Holocaust. The atrocities that Elie Wiesel witnesses often begin due to a lack of morals. Elie witnesses a son's abandonment of morals to survive. The son, “had seen him lose ground, slip back into… middle of paper… a group of people must have good morals. The morals of the leader will greatly influence a civilization. Great men fall not only for lack of morals, but because they have failed to maintain their knowledge. Knowledge allows humans to make the most informed choices. Without the enlightenment of knowledge, human beings sink into great darkness. Innocence keeps people from growing up too quickly. Growing too quickly can cause a person to become calloused and scarred. A loss of innocence too soon changes a person dramatically. In times of chaos and war, humans will find themselves fighting their greatest enemy: themselves. Works Cited Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Coward-McCann, 1962. Print.Wiesel, Elie and Marion Wiesel. Night. New York, NY: Hill and Wang, a division of Farrar, . Straus and Giroux, 2006. Print.